be free, be happy, be peaceful

May all find the teacher within to guide oneself towards unconditional love and peace

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Joyful and peaceful as it is, unconditionally

There's nothing wrong and it's very common that most minds will feel good, happy, contented and peaceful when the mind experiences something that will make it feels good, happy, contented and peaceful, or when the mind comes in contact with qualities of names and forms that it likes and wants and doesn't come in contact with certain qualities of names and forms that it doesn't like and doesn't want. And the mind won't feel good, happy, contented or peaceful, or it will feel bad, unhappy, discontented and not peaceful when the mind doesn't experience something that will induce good, happy and peaceful feelings in the mind, or when the mind doesn't come in contact with the qualities of names and forms that it likes and wants, and when the mind comes in contact with the qualities of names and forms that it doesn't like and doesn't want.

The mind that is not free from ignorance and egoism will always be conditioned or determined by the presence or absence of certain qualities of names and forms or all the mind perceptions of names and forms through the senses to feel good, happy, contented and peaceful, or not.

The mind that is free from ignorance and egoism will be joyful, contented and peaceful as it is, unconditionally, being uninfluenced and undetermined by all the perceptions or experiences of different qualities of names and forms that are impermanent. There's no fear or grief when this mind is approaching death or when someone who is related or closed to this mind is approaching death. This freedom doesn't come from the momentary effects of drugs or intoxication numbing the mind, but coming from the realization of the truth of life existence of the body and mind. There's no clinging onto any names and forms, including existence and non-existence. Those who are not free from ignorance and egoism couldn't comprehend this and they will perceive or recognize this as a form of 'coldness' or 'heartlessness' or 'abnormality' or 'inhuman' or 'wrong'. That's their freedom of life and thinking.

If there is thinking or identification of "I am happy and peaceful because ..." or "I am not happy or peaceful because ..." Then know that this mind is not free. It doesn't matter if the reason of being happy and peaceful is 'something is good', or 'everything is good', or 'life is good', or 'health is good', or 'the state of mind is good', or 'relationship is good', or 'children are good', or 'job is good', or 'people are nice', or 'the world is good and peaceful', or 'yoga practice is good', or 'meditation is good', 'the teacher is good', 'the class is good', or 'weather is good', or 'food is good', and so on.

There's nothing wrong with "being grateful and thankful, contented and happy when there is something good", but the mind is still not free yet. When "there is nothing good" or "there is something not good or something bad", but the mind is still peaceful as it is, then this mind is free.

There's no "I am happy and peaceful because ..." or "I am not happy or peaceful because ..." when the mind is free from ignorance and egoism. This egoless/selfless mind itself is unconditional peace. It doesn't need to feel or be peaceful.

The liberated mind being free from ignorance and egoism and suffering is unconditioned or undetermined by any qualities of names and forms to be happy and peaceful, or not, being aware of all the impermanent changes of all the perceptions of names and forms, without attachment, identification, desires of craving and aversion, judgment or expectation, allowing all the names and forms to be there as they are, to be what they are, but all these names and forms have no intention or quality to induce happiness and peacefulness or unhappiness and restlessness, without intention to change or control all the names and forms to be the way that 'I' like it to be, or the way that 'I' think it should be.

It's the ego that wants to feel good, happy, contented and peaceful, and doesn't want to feel bad, unhappy, discontented and not peaceful. It's the ego that has lots of ceaseless desires of craving and aversion waiting to be gratified in order to attain good feelings and the sense of happiness, or to escape bad feelings and the sense of unhappiness. If the desires of craving and aversion are being gratified, the ego feels good, happy, contented and peaceful. If the desires of craving and aversion are not being gratified, the ego feels bad, unhappy, discontented and not peaceful. The mind is free as it is, when the ego is annihilated.

To know the truth or the root cause of suffering or unhappiness is neither complicated nor difficult. But to have the willpower to be able to free the mind from ignorance and egoism seems to be very challenging for many. And it's okay. That's why the yoga practice is here, without judgment or expectation, keep practicing non-attachment, non-identification, non-craving, non-aversion, non-judgment, non-comparison and non-expectation to be free from ignorance and egoism.

Contemplate on this, and be free.

If people don't like or disagree with or don't want this unconditional peace and happiness, but they prefer to be determined by the gratification of desires of craving and aversion through coming in contact with or non-coming in contact with certain qualities of names and forms that they like or dislike and want or don't want to feel good, happy, contented and peaceful, or not, and if people prefer to take drugs or intoxication to get momentary relieving or numbing effect to deal with unhappiness, discontentment, disappointment, hurt, guilt, regret, grief, depression, painful sorrow, meaninglessness, loneliness, fear or suffering, that's their freedom.